Manchester City Council will cut ties with Russia-linked Gazprom Energy next week – and link with a UK supplier.
The contract between the council and Gazprom expires at the end of March 2022.
And in wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the authority has been “assessing their options to move to an alternative provider at short notice,” it said in response to a Freedom of Information request.
Manchester’s council-run buildings, including schools, will be supplied by UK-based Corona Energy from April 1.
The council’s Head of Finance of Children’s and Education Directorate, Reena Kohli, said: “After considering these options, the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) gas framework with Corona Energy has been selected and the transfer process for all Manchester sites, including schools utilising previously with Gazprom via the Manchester framework is underway.”
The YPO is a publicly-owned central purchasing body consisting of county, borough, and metropolitan councils.
Ms Kohli added: “One hundred per cent of the electricity procured for schools via the Manchester Electricity frameworks with Npower and SSE comes from REGO backed renewable sources.”
Gazprom Energy is a subsidiary of its Russian parent company and has pan-European operations.
It was named the largest non-domestic gas supplier in the UK in 2020 by Cornwall Insight’s Q2 2020 market share report.
Reuters reported Gazprom as saying it is still supplying gas to European customers through Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia on February 24.
Merton Council and Suffolk County Council are also looking to sever their ties with the Russian energy giant.
